Things I love about the City of Brotherly Love

Yesterday I talked about visiting Philadelphia. We used to visit every few months. We have taken four of our grandchildren to Philadelphia, met with friends there and just gone on our own, we love it. 

Here are some of the things we love. 

Philadelphia Academy of Art

Love the skyline

Philadelphia Zoo #Phillyzoo

#Reading Terminal Market

Alex and some of the signers of the Constitution

Taking the Lights of Liberty Tour

You will never be at a loss in Philadelphia for things to do. Another one of my favorites is historic St Peter's Church. 

Flashback Thursday: Visiting Philadelphia

Philadelphia is one of our favorite places to visit. It has so much to offer. Not only is it filled with historic sites but it has plenty of entertainment as well. It is a perfect place to bring children but it is just as much fun for adults only. 

One of the things I like about Philly is the ease of getting around. Once you figure out the one-way street grid, it is one of the easiest large cities to actually drive in. We usually drive in and park the car at the hotel. It is a great walking city and there is the Phlash bus for places that are in the most popular tourist areas. 

We have stayed at many different hotels in downtown. One of the most interesting is the Courtyard Marriott. It is an Art Deco former office building with great architecture and even better views. If you are lucky enough to have a room facing west and are high enough up, you will have great views of the Ben Franklin Statue on top of the Town Hall. 

#philadelphiatownhall

First-time visitors will want to see things like the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Your first stop should be the Independence Visitor Center.  The National Park Department administers these landmarks but there are free tickets that you should pick up at the visitor center.  Tickets are not required in January and February. 

This is just a teaser article to get you in the mood to visit this great city, more detailed articles will follow.

The dining pitfalls of booking a cruise last minute

We just booked our first cruise with Holland America. We are quite excited but at the same time, there is a certain amount of trepidation. While they do not have open style dining, they do have a limited number of openings on their early dining and they are all filled. We have four options. 

1. We can take late dining which is not acceptable for a medical reason. 

2. We can dine freestyle which means that we can reserve a spot by 4:30 on any given day for the early dining and we will get a table if one is available. Baring that, we can just come to the dining room and wait in line for a table like you would at a  restaurant. 

3. We can book a table for an extra charge at one of the specialty restaurant for each night. But dining is included in our cruise fare so we shouldn't have to pay extra for it. 

4. We can dine at the casual buffet-style restaurant. 

No, we are not going to go hungry but in my case, part of the whole cruising experience is getting to know your wait staff and more importantly their getting to know you. It has always meant getting stellar service since you have the same staff for every dinner. The one time we were not able to get it on Princess, was the worst cruise we ever took. 

What can you take out of this post, book early and reserve your preferred dining time it is that simple. This was a spur of the moment booking and we are paying the price for waiting last minute. Hopefully, it will turn out well, I certainly will be writing about it when we get back!!

Audrain Automobile Museum Newport a Photo Tour

Located on prestigious Bellevue Avenue in Newport, R.I. the Audrain Automobile Museum is nothing less than spectacular. Here is just a small taste of what you can see in their current exhibition "Speed Machines".

Travel Apps You Need to Download: Waze

Waze will change the way you navigate your next drive. It not only gives you directions, it tells you about anything that is happening along the way such as accidents, hazards, police and so much more.

Your fellow Wazers are the ones who supply the information and if you happen to be the passenger, not the driver, you can also contribute to the knowledge of the people who are traveling behind you. 

We used Waze extensively on our drive to and from Florida. We also used it when we drove to Weeki Wachee and Kanapaha Botanical Gardens.  

Waze is so useful that honestly it can help you to travel around your local area, you don't have to save it for your vacation. If you live in an area where you may have traffic issues getting to work, Waze can help you chose the best route on any given day and even tell you where to get the cheapest gas.

Waze is available for Android and for iPhones and is free to download. If you haven't downloaded it, I have to ask Why Not? It is simple to use and as previously state will change the way you look at travel. 

We booked a cruise to Bermuda

I have been wanting to take another cruise for a while. It has been quite a few years since our last cruise and I love cruising. I talk about cruising often with our friends who also cruise and who we have cruised with before. No one was taking the bait!! I even considered cruising while we were in Florida but the time just flew by.

Thursday Cindy called me and asked if I was still interested in cruising to Bermuda. She had found a cruise on Holland America which would berth in Hamilton. It seemed like perfect timing. Wednesday evening I was looking at Holland American cruises that go round trip to Europe and I have decided it was something I wanted to do for our 50th wedding anniversary in 2 years. 

This would be the perfect opportunity to try out Holland America on a shorter cruise. Add to that the price of the cruise was slightly less than we are getting in our tax refund and it was like we would be cruising for free. How could I resist? I couldn't of course. It also leaves just three days after our anniversary so this will end up being our anniversary getaway which we do every year. 

We booked on Friday with John Dorman of Cruise One. We have booked a couple cruises with him previously and it is nice to have someone whose name you know to call if I have any questions. He also is very timely in getting back to me if I shoot him an email. 

I forgot to mention we are also getting $100 per person on board credit from Holland America, This will allow us to book some specialty dining or a spa treatment for no cost!! How great is that. 

I will write a review of the cruise and the cruise line when we return but in the meantime I am getting excited and starting to think about all the packing I need to do!!

Historic Chatham Manor Photo Tour Fredericksburg, Va.

Chatham Manor was built by William Fitzhugh a friend of George Washington. It witnessed both the Revolutionary and the Civil Wars.

 

 

Radisson Blu Farnham Estate Cavan Ireland

Everyone has talents, I have a talent for finding and booking great hotels. I may not be able to sing or dance, but if you want to find a hotel that will leave you with memories to last a lifetime, talk to me!! I just seem to have a magic touch. The Radisson Blu Farnham Estate was as the name implies, a former estate. It is located just a little outside of Cavan Town and provides a very high standard of luxury while not being at all stuffy and formal.

You have the option of staying in the original mansion and that is what we requested. I actually asked for a room that faced the front lawn and we also had that. To say that we were impressed from the moment we arrived is both an understatement and an overstatement. About the only thing I didn’t like was the parking situation. Only handicap parking is allowed close to the house and even though we had a handicap sticker, there were no spots open so we had had to park in the lot which is farther than most people would like.

What you do is to get out your luggage and go to the covered waiting area and call the house and they send the van down to pick you up. It works but it also means that every time you want to leave the property, which we did with great regularity, you had to take the van and sometimes that involves a wait. In the grand scheme of things however, this is a very small annoyance.

Our room was not ready for us when we arrived. We were escorted to a lovely private parlor to wait and then escorted to our room. To say it had breathtaking views from immense windows is a gross understatement. It was just stunning and I think we both took a moment to just take in our gorgeous view and the room itself. Even the bathroom had a stunning view!!

The floors were wood and appeared to be original which would make them several hundred years old. The wall facing the bed had a fireplace as well but I have to admit I am not sure if it works, we never even talked about it when we were there.

We had twin beds and after sorting out who would get which bed, Kathy requested the one nearest the window so she could have fresh air to keep her cool, which was perfectly fine with me. We then each picked a wardrobe and unloaded our suitcases. I was so happy to have my clothes back that I was hugging each piece as I either hung it up or placed it in a drawer.

Our room was spacious and included a seating area with a large low table and a huge desk which become my writing area. The bathroom was probably the biggest I have ever had and I have some that were very impressive. We each had out own sink and of course our own robes. The tub was huge and I did enjoy a long soak one night.

We could make our own coffee and tea in the room and part of our welcome was a small bag of fresh cookies and a note from the management welcoming us.  We loved everything about staying here. 

The staff is unfailingly exceptional, not just sweet and helpful but funny and engaging. We ate here every night,  that was by choice. The food was good and the best meal we had in Ireland we had here on our last night. I will write another article about our dining experiences here.

The grounds offer plenty of opportunities to walk around and we did take advantage of the gorgeous landscape. Beyond that, this is a resort!! It has a very popular golf course and a spa. The spa is so popular that we just could not manage to get an appointment. I would make sure to book that ahead of time before I returned here. It was my own fault, they do recommend that you book ahead but we didn’t want to tie ourselves down to a set schedule before we arrived.

The hotel also has an infinity pool. Kathy did go down and enjoy a swim, I was just too tuckered and I didn’t go but I wish I had. Another thing that I loved about this hotel is before we even left the United States they called me and asked if there were any reservations they could secure for me. That is when I should have booked the spa!!

I would recommend this hotel to anyone who plans to visit Cavan and I would love to return for a visit and I can’t even imagine why I would want to stay anywhere else unless price was a serious consideration. Staying here is not inexpensive but it is worth every penny and the rooms in the modern addition are much less expensive than our suite but I was looking to create a lifetime of memories for Kathy and I succeeded beyond my wildest expectations. 

Quebec: Summer in the City a Photo Tour

It is that time of year again when thoughts start to turn to summer vacations. Our family is no exception. For us, for many years, that has meant going to Quebec City. We haven't gone

in a few years and it is time for us to help introduce great-grandson Daniel to his heritage. 

Here are just a few of the places that we have visited in the past and will likely visit this year. 

Chateau Frontenac

Around Place Royal

In the Parliament Building

Art in Quebec

Outside the Parliament

Our day at Homosassa Springs State Park

Some people may think that whales and dolphins are the marine animals that we all need to see. While I do enjoy seeing them, my new favorites are the Manatees. Known as “sea cows” these large and rather slow animals are just plain adorable.  We did see a couple in the Weeki Wachee River but we decided that the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs State Park  was a better way to actually see them up close and personal and we were right. They have an underwater viewing tank and an outdoor tank where you can watch the manatee.

#manatee

Now if Homosassa only had the manatee it would be interesting but it has so much more. You begin by entering the Park at U.S. 19 so that you can take the riverboat tour up Pepper Creek to get to the wildlife part of the park.

The day we were there it was warm. Really it was the first gorgeous day in a while and everybody in the world seemed to have decided to visit there too. We had to wait in line to pay and then wait in line to get on the riverboat. There were so many people waiting that they brought in another boat. Even at that, it was rather crowded. 

We had three people on our seat and that made it just a little cozy for my liking especially since I wanted to take pictures but other people were making it impossible for more than two people to sit on their bench so we sat close together to allow the people walking in the aisle to sit down. 

I was able to take some photos while we cruised along. When we arrived at the west gate we were hungry and stopped to grab a bite to eat at the Wildside Café. The hamburger and fries were very good and not over-priced.

The walk around the park is over a mile but there are benches along to way to rest. The heat was more of an issue for me that the distance. We got to see “Lu” the hippo and lots of alligators were taking advantage of the warm weather to sun themselves.

The birds are just amazing. We saw owls, ducks, bald eagles, flamingos and a whole lot more.

The only thing I didn’t visit was the snakes and lizards, I just didn’t want to. I loved the black bear and the panther and of course the manatee.

I was quite exhausted by the time we finished so we took the tram back, it is faster than the riverboat.

I can’t recommend Homosassa Spring State Park enough, I just loved it and I am sure it is somewhere that we will visit again and again.

British Columbia: The Beauty of Butchart Gardens Victoria

Come along on a photo tour of Butchart Gardens in Victoria. This is the first place that my cousin Chris took Al and me when we visited. It is an amazingly beautiful place that was created from an abandoned quarry, goes to show what can be done!! 

For more information check out their website.